//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Godzilla: Equestria's Titanic Guardian // by Lord Shadow Eclipse //------------------------------// Castle of Friendship Twilight and Spike were reorganizing the books in the castle library. Again. Spike was definitely not enjoying the task as the library was even bigger than the one Lord Tirek destroyed. The amount of books would take a Celestia-length lifespan to read through. The mail-pony Derpy flew through the open window and greeted Twilight. "Hello, Your Highness. I come bearing mail for you," she said in her usual relaxed voice. Twilight chuckled. "Thank you, Derpy. I trust you brought good mail?" "You bet I did! I have a letter for you from the Royal Army garrison in Manehattan," Derpy said. "What?! The Royal Army garrison?" Twilight asked. "Yeah. Here," Derpy said, rummaging though her mail bag and pulling out a letter with the military seal. Twilight took it and opened it. * "Dear Princess Twilight, My soldiers recently engaged a massive unidentified terrestrial organism with a draconic appearance that suddenly appeared in Manehattan. The creature caused some damage to the buildings, but there were no injuries or deaths. The beast fled to the river and swam away, heading south. Given the creature's immense size, I advise that everyone in the Equestrian military and all Pegasi be kept on high alert. Perhaps you and your friends can come up with a solution to this problem. Sincerely, General Hardhoof" * Twilight's face grew more and more grave with each word she read. But she was also relieved to hear that none of the citizens were lost. But the existence of this creature was intriguing. A creature of immense size and looked like a wingless dragon? That was an interesting idea. She turned to Spike. "Spike, gather the other Elements and tell them to meet here!" Twilight ordered. "If this creature posed a threat to the safety of Equestria, we'd better be prepared." "Roger that!" Spike said. He ran out the door to get the others. ... Later Everyone of Twilight's friends gathered at the throne room awaiting Twilight. They were all curious about what Twilight wanted to meet with them about. "Do you think there's another power-hungry lunatic on the loose?" Applejack asked. "Maybe. I think that would be an awesome way to pass the time," Rainbow said. "Maybe Twilight is throwing a surprise party for us!" Pinkie said. "Perhaps Twilight simply wants to spend some time with us. Our individual schedules haven't left much room for hanging out with each other," Rarity said. "I only hope everything's okay," Fluttershy said. Twilight entered the room and sat down in her throne. She had a hard look on her face that told the rest of the gathered friends that this would not be a friendly visit. "I'm glad you all got here so quickly," Twilight said. "We have something very important to discuss." "Well, what is it?" Applejack asked. "Just this morning, I received a disturbing letter from the Royal Army garrison in Manehattan detailing an encounter with a gigantic creature of unknown origin," Twilight said. The gathered friends, especially Fluttershy, all leaned forward with great interest. This was quite a lot of information to take in. "Are they sure it wasn't a dragon?" Rarity asked. "They can get pretty big." "According to the general that was there, this creature wasn't a dragon," Twilight replied. "Besides, he said that the creature was too big to be a dragon." "Is it a creature that escaped Tartarus?" Rainbow asked. "I don't think so. The letter said that the creature appeared out of nowhere," Twilight said. "It seems some unknown magic was used to transport the creature here." "Where is the creature now?" Fluttershy asked. "Well, the general said that the creature entered the river and started heading south. And since this river flows through this area, there's a change the creature may appear here," Twilight said. "And you think we can do something about this creature?" Fluttershy asked. "We have to. But since the creature seemed more eager to get away from the forces attacking it, I don't think this beast is malicious in nature," Twilight said. "So if we see it, we simply monitor it and its behavior. But most importantly, we shouldn't do anything to provoke the creature." "And what if it does become aggressive?" Rainbow asked. "A valid question, Dashy. If the creature becomes aggressive, I can simply put it to sleep and secure it like I did with the Ursa Minor," Twilight said. "It may be our best option. I'd like to avoid conflict with the creature if I can, so I think me and Fluttershy will be the first ones to deal with the creature." "I'll do my best, Twilight!" Fluttershy said with surprising boldness. "Happy to see Fluttershy so motivated," Twilight said. "We all on board?" "You bet we are, Twilight!" Rainbow shouted. "You know we'll help," Applejack said. "If that varmint tries anything fishy, I'll make shoes out of him!" "I may not be experienced using my magic for fighting, but I'll try to help in any way I can," Rarity said. "My party cannon is at your disposal, Twilight!" Pinkie said. "Great! I'll summon a force from the Royal Army and we'll set up watch at the river. After that, we'll have to wait," Twilight said. "If and when the creature shows up, me and Fluttershy will handle it from there." "Sounds like a plan to me!" Spike said with a thumb's up. "When does to Royal Army arrive?" "General Hardhoof is coming with five hundred of the military's finest tonight. We should get going to meet them there," Twilight said. "Right now, I have to inform the public about this and begin running evacuation drills. Just in case." The Elements split up to get ready for the incoming creature. They hoped that the future encounter with the creature would be peaceful. ***** Later that Night - The Riverfront The entire river was buzzing with activity by the time Luna's moon rose in the sky. The Elements and literally hundreds of armed soldiers were running around trying to prepare for a potentially dangerous encounter with the giant creature. The town's been instructed on what to do if they need to evacuate, an outcome they hoped would never happen. Starlight gave an impressed whistle at how quickly the Royal Army was able to set up along the river. Trenches, observation posts, and a command center where she and the rest of the Elements were gathered to plan their next move. After a little while, General Hardhoof joined them. General Hardhoof took over as high commander of the Royal Army after Shining Armor got married, and she's proven herself to be more than capable. An Earth Pony mare with dull green fur and a black mane and tail, she gave off an impression of strength under her armor. She was acting as second-in-command to Twilight, as she was one of the princesses. General Hardhoof made it clear that she trusted Twilight's thinking and judgement. "What have you got for us, General?" Twilight asked. "Pegasus scouts are steadily following the creature. The latest reports stated that the creature will be in this spot in precisely thirty minutes," General Hardhoof said. "For now, all we have to do is wait." A soldier came bursting into the command center. She saluted everyone in the tent before speaking. "Ma'am, an airship from Klugetown just landed outside of the established perimeter. The sole pilot says he need to speak to the Princess immediately," the soldier said. "Any idea who the pilot is?" Twilight asked. "He says he's met you and your friends before. His name's Capper," the soldier replied. Each of the Elements looked to each other in surprise. Capper had flown by himself all the way to Ponyville from Klugetown, so something must be wrong. "Where is Mister Capper now?" General Hardhoof asked. "He was on the verge of starvation and is in a bad state of mind, so we've got him in one of the observation posts," the soldier replied. "We'll go check on him," Applejack said. The mares left the tent and walked past lines of walking soldiers to get to one of the nearby observation posts. Inside, there indeed was their old friend Capper, wrapped up in a blanket and looking very worse for wear. Capper was shaking like a leaf, his eyes wide and didn't seem to be looking at anyone around him. The soldier was right, he was in a terrible state of mind. The girls were shocked to see their friend like this. "What happened to him?" Starlight whispered to one of the on-site doctors. "Physically, he's been without food and water for a long time, but we've been feeding him," the doctor replied. "But mentally, he's obviously seen something terrible. I've seen this in some of the soldiers I treat, and it's never easy to treat. I may have make a call to a psychiatrist." "Can we talk to him?" Rarity asked. "We're friends, so he may respond well to a familiar face." "You can try, and I hope you're able to get through to him," the doctor said. Rarity walked over to face Capper, who was shakily holding a glass of water. She knelt her head down to his level and tried to look him in the eyes. "Capper? It's me, your friend Rarity. I'm happy to see that you're okay," Rarity said in a motherly tone. Capper seemed to notice Rarity and the other Elements for the first time. His eyes finally focused on his surroundings. He gave Rarity a glad smile. "Rarity? Oh, am I happy to see you. I've had a... rough few days," Capper said. Starlight spoke up next. "Capper, I know you've been through a rough time, but if you can, can you tell us what's wrong?" she asked. The dapper cat put on a frightened face, but he spoke calmly if a little shakily. His paws trembled as he told them. "Klugetown is gone. It's been completely destroyed," Capper said. "Destroyed? By whom?" Fluttershy asked. "It... was a monster. The thing looked like a humungous dragon... but it also wasn't a dragon," Capper replied. "It was like nothing I've ever seen." The girls were shocked. A giant dragon-like creature destroyed Klugetown? That was more than weird. The creature the group was tracking was first sighted in Manehattan, nowhere near Klugetown. That had to mean that there was another creature out there, one that was more destructive than they one they were currently tracking. "Does that mean there's another giant creature out there?" Rainbow asked. "Yeah, it would appear so," Twilight said. "What does this mean?" "A monster destroyed Klugetown and another one showed up in Manhattan? That sounds to me like a rise of giant monsters," Starlight said. "If these two are here, who knows how many more may be out there." One of the soldiers from outside rushed into the tent and seemed to be out of breath. "The monster in the river's almost here! It'll be on us in five minutes!" the soldier said. "Then we need to get into position!" Twilight said. "Capper, stay here! You'll be safe here!" Capper dutifully remained where he was with the doctor while everyone else ran out to get into their assigned positions to wait for the monster. Outside, soldiers were running or flying to get ready for the monster's arrival, readying weapons just in case. There were Pegasus soldiers in the trees and others hidden away in the surrounding brush or in trenches. Twilight and her friends were all in one of the trenches waiting for the creature's arrival. The soldier said that the creature would arrive in five minutes, but the wait felt like an eternity and a half. Everyone was on edge waiting, with some soldiers shaking in fear. All eyes were glued on the river in anticipation. In the distance, there was a large shape in the water, making its way towards the stationed soldiers fast. General Hardhoof called out to her soldiers. "Turn on the lights to get its attention!" she called. The soldiers followed that command and bright lights came on, all pointed towards the shape. Now that the lights were on, the shape burst through the water for all to see. And they could hardly believe what they were looking at. Standing at a nearly 160 feet tall was a creature none of them had ever seen. It was similar in appearance to a dragon, but it was no dragon. It had no wings, but a back full of rocky dorsal spikes. It stood on thick elephantine legs and had arms that were short, but strong. A long tail swished behind him, knocking over some of the trees. The creature gazed at the ponies below him with a pair of bright orange eyes. This creature was sight to behold. Each of the Ponies looked at him with looks of fear and amazement, especially Twilight, Starlight, and Fluttershy. Rainbow nudged Applejack in the ribs. "Still wanna try making shoes out of him?" Rainbow asked. "Shhhh! I never said that!" Applejack retorted. "What about you? You said you wanted to take him on!" Rainbow visibly shook at that. "I could... but my wings are sore from practice, so I can't fight." "Mm-hm. Sure," Applejack said. "Well, looks like it's up to me and you, Fluttershy," Twilight said. Surprisingly, Fluttershy took off with eagerness. Fluttershy, of all Ponies, was eager to interact with a creature that looked so similar to a dragon. Twilight actually had to struggle to catch up to her. Once she did, she took mental notes of the creature before them. He seemed to be regarding them with interest and wasn't attacking, a good sign. "How do you think we should handle this, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked. "Well, animals get nervous if you try to go above their heads, so we need to hover at his level and just below him," Fluttershy replied. "If he gets nervous, he may get try to either make us submit or he'll get scared and attack." "Good call. I'll leave the calming to you and I'll try to talk to him," Twilight said. Before either of them knew it, they were right at the creature's eye level. Twilight found herself mesmerized by the huge flame-orange eyes before her. She stared deeply into those eyes for a long time, and she had the feeling that the creature was staring into her own eyes, too. A low, purring growl came forth from the creature's maw as he looked at the Ponies. Fluttershy cleared her throat. "Hello, friend. My name is Fluttershy. What's your name?" Fluttershy asked in greeting. The creature regarded Fluttershy for a bit before giving a few rumbles and growls as a response. "He said his name is... Godzilla," Fluttershy replied before turning back to Godzilla. "Well, welcome to Ponyville, Godzilla! May I ask where you hail from?" Twilight asked in greeting. Godzilla focused his eyes on Twilight and rumbled his reply, his throat vibrating from the sound. Fluttershy gave her translation. "He said he's from a world called 'Earth'," Fluttershy replied. "He also asked what this world is called." Twilight looked Godzilla with a surprised look on her face. Godzilla was from Earth, the home of the humans? If that was true, then why hadn't Twilight heard about him during her visits there? Surely a creature like him would be a common topic of conversation among the humans. Unless... he was from a different version of Earth. Now that Twilight thought about it, she had to ask Twilight about the monster that destroyed Klugetown. "Lord Godzilla, do you know of any other beings like you from your world?" Twilight asked. "There was a monster that destroyed a city just to the south of here." Godzilla's eyes widened in curiosity and growled louder than before. Fluttershy translated. "He's asking if it was a dragon-like monster," Fluttershy said. "Yeah, it was," Twilight said. "Do you know this creature?" Godzilla's eyes widened even more and took a few steps back. He craned his head upwards and did something both mares weren't expecting: a loud roar. "AAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAHH!" The roar was so loud that both Twilight and Fluttershy covered their ears as they flew down to the ground. Godzilla's roar was so loud that everyone was covering their ears. They weren't sure what prompted this, but the roar had them spooked. When Godzilla stopped roaring, Fluttershy looked up and Godzilla, who seemed very angry. "I take it Godzilla knows this monster?" Twilight asked. "He doesn't seem happy about it." "I'll fly up and ask him," Fluttershy said. Twilight and the others watched from below as Fluttershy spoke to Godzilla. He seemed agitated when Twilight mentioned the monster that destroyed Klugetown. "What did you say to him that made him so mad?" Starlight asked. "I asked if he knew the monster that destroyed Klugetown, and he got mad. I guess that he knows about this monster," Twilight replied. Fluttershy flew back down to the others and relayed everything that Godzilla told her. And from the look on her face, it wasn't going to be good things. "Godzilla told me about the destroyer of Klugetown. He said its name is King Ghidora," Fluttershy said. "He also told me that where he's from, King Ghidora is called 'the King of Destruction'." "I take it there's a reason he got that name?" Applejack asked. "There is. Godzilla says that Ghidora is a beast of pure evil. A monster who destroys entire worlds just for fun," Fluttershy said. "And if he's here, all of Equestria's in danger!" Rarity said. "How do we stop him?" "Godzilla told me that he's fought Ghidora many times before and had managed to drive him away," Fluttershy said. "He and Ghidora have had a long rivalry." "If they're enemies, then Godzilla fight this Ghidora?" Pinkie asked. "He said that he's going to go look for him and fight him," Fluttershy said. "If there's going to be a fight between these two beings, will he allow us to help him?" Rarity asked. "I asked him that, and he said that it would be best if we stayed out of it," Fluttershy said. "Is that a good idea that we're supposed to do nothing while he fights?" Twilight asked. "Sounds to me like he'd have a higher chance of success if we join him." "He said that we'd just give Ghidora more enemies to destroy. I think we should just let Godzilla and Ghidora fight," Fluttershy said. "He says that he's beaten Ghidora before, so I don't think we really need to do anything." "Still, what do we do now?" Starlight asked. "What do we do now that we've got Godzilla here?" Twilight thought about it for a bit. Godzilla didn't seem to be extremely aggressive and he said he was going to fight a very clear threat to the world, so she could do something for him. She and Fluttershy flew back up to Godzilla's eye level and she spoke. "Godzilla, as one of the sovereign rulers of this land, I would like to extend my friendship to you. You can live here in peace and friendship and protect the realm from this Ghidora," Twilight said. "I know that everyone would love to be friends with you." The gigantic King of the Monsters looked at Twilight with a look of shock. He obviously hadn't been offered friendship by anyone other than his fellow Kaiju. For the first time ever, tears of joy came to Godzilla's eyes as he heard those words. He gave a few joyful sounding growls in return. "He says he'd love to be friends and that he'll stop Ghidora," Fluttershy said with a happy smile. Now that the matter was settled, both mares and Godzilla went from the river to the lake, where Godzilla would make his new home. Once there, he fully submerged himself in the lake, out of sight of the ponies. Twilight smiled to herself, pleased with everything. "Looks like Equestria's now got a titanic guardian," Twilight said under her breath.